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Arizona Diamondbacks Organization Review

Arizona Diamondbacks Organization Review

Brian Creagh
February 09, 2023

Arizona Diamondbacks Organization Review

Over the next three weeks, I will be publishing organization overviews for every MLB team. Each post will be a deep dive into all levels of the organization and picking out fantasy relevant nuggets. The primary focus will be at the MLB level and trying to uncover players I want to target in upcoming drafts, but I am playing in a few dynasty leagues and want to try to highlight some players to stash or keep an eye out for upcoming trades.

Picks For 2023

Players I like in fantasy drafts given their current price. All ADPs are from the last two months of NFC data.

Zac Gallen (ADP: 74) - Gallen was awesome last year with a 2.58 ERA and 0.93 WHIP across 181.2 innings. Underlying peripherals indicate there's nothing overly suspect about those numbers so I expect a little ERA regression but still to return great value for a guy going in the 7th round of drafts.

Jake McCarthy (ADP: 114) - McCarthy is a guy to keep in mind if you go with Judge, Tucker, Soto, or Vladdy in Round 1. He can help make up some ground in SB at Round 10 of the draft. Projections also have him batting 3rd for Arizona so counting stats should be available. He's going around Steven Kwan, Gleyber Torres, and Sean Murphy, all of whom I like McCarthy much better than.

Christian Walker (ADP: 132) - 30 HRs with an average that won't kill you is a great find later in drafts. He is right at the end of draft-able first basemen and someone to keep in mind if you choose to wait on the position. I like Walker over Cron, Muncy, and Andrew Vaughn who are all going at the same range.

Fades For 2023

Players I don't love at current ADP.

Josh Rojas (ADP: 200) - The 23 SBs last year came out of nowhere. You might be tempted to draft Rojas for some cheap steals, but I don't think he can repeat that performance. He had 9 SBs in 550 PAs in 2021 and I think that's closer to what to expect in 2023.

MLB Breakout Player(s)

Players I like to outperform expectations

Corbin Carroll - The obvious choice. Favorite for Rookie of the Year.

Drey Jameson - His 2022 stats don't jump off the page, but I was impressed watching Jameson in four MLB starts last year. He got notched three wins in those starts and maintained a 3.19 FIP in 24.1 innings. It's a small sample size, but Arizona needs starting arms and Jameson will get an opportunity.

Favorite Prospects Outside Top 5

Prospects outside of MLB.com's Top 5 that I want to target in dynasty leagues.

Yu-Min Lin - An 18 year old starter in Low-A last year, Lin racked up a 40% strikeout rate and showed decent control with only a 10% walk rate. He's still a few years away from an MLB debut, but he should stick as a starter and climb prospect rankings each year.

Justin Martinez - A relief-only prospect limits his upside on typical prospect rankings, but Martinez looks primed to be a high leverage guy for Arizona in 2023. He costs nothing to acquire and could quickly find himself in a closer's role.

Bullpen

Here is how I would rank the arms in the bullpen. This considers a mix of projected role and talent/likelihood of taking over the closers role.

Kevin Ginkel - Ginkel emerged last year and wound up with 10 saves. He's the favorite to get the first crack at the closer's role for Arizona.
Joe Mantiply - Mantiply probably deserves the second chance at the closer's role if Ginkel stumbles. Melancon is the senior statesman and that might get him the nod, but Mantiply's recent performance has been far more impressive.
Justin Martinez - up-and-coming reliever who looks to quickly be plugged into a high leverage role for Arizona.
Luis Frias - long-shot to get to the closers role, but has the stuff to thrive if he gets there.